Equality Maryland | Patrick Wojahn

Patrick Wojahn

BALTIMORE, Maryland, June 23 - Today, the boards of directors of Equality Maryland announced the creation of the strategic plan the organization will use to guide its work through the end of 2011. The boards are committed to embracing a new way of doing business in order to create a community supported organization. By doing so, they will secure the necessary resources and leadership capacity to be an effective partner in bringing equality for LGBT people to Maryland in 2012 and beyond.

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This post was originally written for the Gazette by Sarah Breitenbach.

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Despite recent legislative defeats, a turnover in leadership, the loss of grant money and a funding hole thousands of dollars deep, Equality Maryland is continuing its efforts, officials with the gay rights organization said.

Since it lost battles in the past General Assembly session to legalize same-sex marriage and prevent certain types of discrimination against transgendered people, the state's largest group advocating for same-sex marriage has fired its executive director, seen its board chairman resign and is looking to plug a $20,000 gap by the end of the month.

"Certainly these events are a setback," Patrick Wojahn, chairman of Equality Maryland's Foundation board of directors, said Wednesday. "That said, we're going to be meeting this upcoming weekend to develop a plan to move forward. We understand that we have a lot of work before us, that we have a lot of fundraising (to do)."

The $20,000 needed by the end of June includes monthly operating costs and outstanding debts, including a $10,000 bill for a poll commissioned by former Executive Director Morgan Meneses-Sheets, Wojahn said.

Equality Maryland's board of directors members did not know about the polling costs until interim director Lynne Bowman began reviewing the group's finances.

Grants the group was using to pay the salaries of a handful of staff during the legislative session also have run out, Wojahn said, forcing Equality Maryland to look toward donations to keep running. According to one board member, the group has thousands of members who pay a minimum of $35 in annual dues.

The loss of the same-sex marriage bill in the House of Delegates signals an uphill fight during the 2012 legislative session, and Wojahn said he doesn't expect to receive more grant money from national gay rights organizations this year.

"Part of that is there are other fights going on around the country right now, and if we win in the state legislature, we're still going to have to face a referendum on the ballot. That requires a lot of support," he said. "I think a number of the funders are looking to fight battles that they see as more achievable."

In March, when it looked as though the bill might clear both chambers, opponents who appeared to be backed by national groups opposing same-sex marriage vowed to petition the measure to referendum.

Shortly following the legislative session in April, Meneses-Sheets' contract ended, although Wojahn would not comment on the reason for her departure. Meneses-Sheets could not be reached for comment.

In May, Charles Butler, chairman of the group's board of directors, stepped down for personal reasons, Wojahn said.

Equality Maryland's lobbying efforts were a large part of the success of the same-sex marriage bill in the Senate and in the House Judiciary Committee before it fell a few votes short in the full House, said Del. Anne R. Kaiser (D-Dist.14) of Burtonsville.

"They were clearly important during everything that happened during the session," she said. "They were obviously the reason that we got as close as we did."

In past years, versions of the legislation failed to make it to the floor of either chamber.

Kaiser said she cannot imagine Equality Maryland folding and not being a part of the same-sex marriage debate next session.

"Elections have consequences and we as Democrats lost six seats, five of which were (marriage equality) supporters," Kaiser said. "That sometimes gets lost in the whole discussion of Equality Maryland (when placing blame)."

Even so, in order to pass same-sex marriage laws, advocates needs a robust political organization, said Sue Hyde, chairwoman for the MassEquality Education Fund board of directors.

The key to getting Massachusetts lawmakers to vote down a constitutional amendment that would have outlawed same-sex marriage in 2007 was letting legislators know her group would protect them politically, Hyde said.

After the Maryland bill was sent back to committee in the House, legislative leaders speculated that some freshmen delegates failed to vote in favor of it for fear of constituent fallout.

"The legislators have to be confident that we will stand with them and if they're not confident of that, then there are some (legislators) that (think) ‘I can't take this vote,' ‘I can't risk my elected position,'" Hyde said.

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This post was written by Yusef Najafi for the Metro Weekly.

Last week Equality Maryland announced that it is currently in the midst of a financial crisis, and that it needs about $25,000 a month to maintain its staff and pay for rent of its Baltimore headquarters.

Today, Monday, May 31, in an e-mail message, Equality Maryland announced the resignation of its board president Charles Butler, board president of Equality Maryland Inc., the lobbying arm of Equality Maryland, while a "new chair person has yet to be named."

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This piece was originally published as an editorial from the joint Presidents of Equality Maryland's Board of Directors. The editorial was published in the Washington Blade and the Metro Weekly.

On March 11, the Maryland House of Delegates voted to “recommit” the bill that would have provided marriage equality to same-sex couples, sending the legislation back to committee and effectively ending its chance for passage this year. This came as a bitter disappointment to all who had worked to achieve equal marriage rights in Maryland. As the chairs of Equality Maryland, we take full responsibility for the decision to recommit, and stand by that decision. We want to explain why we believe that, given the circumstances, sending the bill back to committee was the best course of action.

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